The Silver Lining
by maka-tsubaki
Summary: Sometimes, when two people are meant to be together, it takes a while for them to realize. And then sometimes even longer to get them together. And sometimes, it takes a drastic event. When Lucy and Jellal are taken during a dangerous quest, will Erza and Natsu be able to rescue them in time? NaLu, Jerza, Gruvia
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I starte d this a long time ago, and I'm finally posting it. I will try to be more timely with this story, but no promises. (grins sheepishly)**

 **-Maka**

Sometimes, two people in the world are meant for each other. Sometimes they find each other, sometimes they don't. There are a lot of "sometimes" in our world. And sometimes, those "sometimes" add up to extreme circumstances. This is the story of one of those cases, and how two people who were meant to be together, almost weren't.

The people in question are named Jellal and Erza. Tragic intertwined pasts led to extraneous circumstances, pushing them apart. But that was about to change. Because sometimes, the universe has mercy. And gives people who have had to be strong for so long a miracle. And as we all know, the best stories have the strangest beginnings.

"AHHHH! What are you all doing?" Lucy yelled. She tried to jump up to kick out all of her friends, only to find arms wrapped around her torso. Blushing madly, she struggled wildly until the culprit woke up. "Natsu…" Sensing the danger, Natsu leapt away from the angry blonde. Unfortunately, Gray, who had been sleeping in the chair by the bed, was not so fortunate.

"OWWWW! Lucy!" He looked down and swore. "I swear I wasn't naked when I went to sleep!" Lucy glowered, and he cowered, fleeing to the kitchen to find food.

"Erza, you too?" Lucy asked, dismayed. "I expect it from these bird brains-" "Hey!" "-but not from you." Erza just shrugged, stretching like a cat. Lucy contemplated kicking Erza, but only for a moment. They both knew it wouldn't end well for the Celestial Mage. Erza requipped out of her pajamas into her daily armor, and wandered into the kitchen after Gray, leaving Lucy with the frightened Dragon Slayer and Exceed.

"Sorry Lucy, but your house is just so much better. And mine is kinda falling apart; it was already in pretty bad shape before Tenroujima. I just found out they're tearing it down; it's been condemned." Lucy's eyes softened at Natsu's plight.

"Alright, I suppose you can stay with me for a little while. But!" She added, seeing his jubilation, "only until you find your own place. Deal?"

Natsu bounced over, hugging Lucy "Deal!" He said excitedly.

"Aye!" Happy added. A loud noise distracted Lucy, and she ran into the kitchen to investigate.

"Gray! Did you just break my stove? Erza, I'm not making cake for breakfast! No, Natsu, you can't eat that, I need those candles in case there's a blackout! Happy, get off my cupboards!" She shouted, no one save Erza paying her any heed. "Ok, that's it!" Lucy took a deep breath, and screamed. Everyone in the room jumped; Erza drew her sword, Gray summoned ice, Natsu prepared a flame, and Happy flew in panicked circles.

"Ok, if you're all going to be in MY house, you're going to follow MY rules. Rule #1: I choose what we eat. Rule #2: No touching _anything_ in the kitchen unless I say you can. Rule #3: you all sleep in the living room. No one in my room when I sleep. Rule # 4: If the bathroom door is closed, _STAY. OUT._ Rule #5: No destroying anything. You damage anything, you pay for it. Rule #6: No one allowed in here if I'm not. I don't trust you guys not to destroy anything. Rule #7: If you want to stay here for more than four nights, you help me pay rent. And that's non consecutive. Got it?" Lucy barked out her rules to the slightly intimidated, yes, even Erza, crowd in front of her.

Happy was the first to react, managed a frightened "Aye!" and a salute, followed by Natsu and Gray stuttering out their agreement, and Erza nodding sagely at Lucy's fair regulations, though disappointed that she couldn't get any cake that morning. _Ah, well_ , she thought. _I'll just get some at the guild_. _Preferably strawberry._

"Natsu, your share of any jobs HAS to go to finding a new apartment and rent, since I'm paying for your food. Got it?" Lucy added.

"Alright, alright." Natsu grumbled, not liking the idea of having to leave Lucy's.

"Okay! Now that that's established, Erza, would you help me make breakfast? I'm thinking bacon and eggs? And a lot of them." Erza smiled and nodded. "Ok, Natsu, Happy, Gray, out!" Lucy shooed them out of her kitchen as she and Erza started preparing their mega meal. An hour later, Lucy had cleared out her cabinet to provide plates for all the food she and Erza had cooked. Naturally, Natsu ate most of it, and everything they made was gone in minutes.

"Well," Lucy sighed, "I guess we have to do a job now. Cuz you guys are gonna clean out my food pretty fast." She drooped.

"Hey, cheer up, Luce! We'll find something nice for you. There's gotta be some rich guy who doesn't realize how easy his job is and way overprices it." Natsu said brightly. Lucy smiled.

"Yeah! Ok, come on guys. I want to get there before all the good jobs are gone." Lucy said, flashing her signature smile. Natsu flushed, although he wasn't sure why.

At the guild, Lucy waved to Mira and approached the board. "Hmmm…. well, I know Natsu said he'd do something easy, but he'll get bored and destroy the town. I'd better find two in the same area…" Lucy muttered to herself. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wow! Hey, Natsu, come look at this!" She called, turning her shoulders towards the Dragon Slayer.

"What is it Luce?" Natsu asked, following her finger to the board, his eyes widening in turn. "Wow! Why would someone offer 5,000,000 Jewels just to get rid of bandits?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, but it's S-class, so they're probably pretty strong. Do you want it?" Lucy said. Natsu frowned.

"But Luce, you would hate that job. And you could get hurt." he said in a concerned voice. Lucy blushed a little and smiled.

"No, see, I found a cafe job in the same town. It'll probably take you guys 3 or 4 days to track them down, and this job is a week long, so I can get started, and then you guys can join me for the last 3 or 4 days. Plus, it's 500,000 jewels per person, so I'll earn a lot towards our rent. We'll never be more than a day's journey away for each other." Lucy said, placing a calming hand on his arm.

Natsu frowned. "I still don't like it. What if something happens to you? I won't be able to get there in time. And there are more dangers than magical ones." He said protectively. "We've never done a job without the other one. I need to keep you safe, Luce." Lucy blushed, hoping no one else was hearing the conversation.

"Natsu, if it's really that big of a deal to you, I can ask Juvia if she'll go with me. She's strong, and we're a good team. Is that ok?" Lucy asked. Natsu frowned again, and opened his mouth, but Lucy cut him off. "Natsu, you can't be there for every danger in my life. I have to be able to do things without you nearby. You have to trust my ability. I may not be as strong as you, but I have my whip, and even if I get incapacitated, unless another Celestial Mage holds my keys, Loke can come out on his own and protect me. I'll be fine." Lucy said, with a gentle smile that melted the last of Natsu's resistance.

"Ok, fine. But if you get hurt, I'm… I'm… gonna let Happy sleep on your face! And stay with you 24/7 for as long as it takes for you to recover." Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy broke in from above them, having returned from Mira's counter with fish. "Why am I sleeping on Lucy's face?"

Lucy laughed. "Natsu is worried I'll get hurt on my _easy_ " Lucy emphasized the word with a significant look at Natsu, who crossed his arms and humphed grumpily, "mission. He said if I do, you'll sleep on my face. I think this is agreeable enough, since I won't get hurt." Another significant look at Natsu, whose frown deepened.

"I don't want Lucy to get hurt!" Happy wailed. "Lucy, be careful." he said, clinging to her arm. Lucy laughed and hugged Happy.

"Don't worry, Happy; I'm just working at a cafe for a week while Natsu goes out and takes out the big bad bandits." Lucy said with laughter in her voice. Natsu, who understood he was being teased, attempted to look grumpy, but only succeeded in limiting his laugh to a smile.

Wide-eyed, Happy looked up at Lucy. "Can you bring back fish?" He implored, looking as cute as possible.

"I'll try. But they might not have any, and you can just catch some with Natsu." Lucy replied. Happy shrugged, gnawing on his fish.

"It's better when you get it." he said simply. Lucy smiled and giggled.

"Well, let's get these two back to the team and then to Mira. I want to get going soon." Lucy said, grabbing the jobs and bouncing back to where Erza and Gray stood waiting.

Natsu watched her go, worried. Happy hovered above his head, looking solemn. His face broke into a grin, and he whispered in Natsu's ear, "You liiiiiiiiikkeeeee heeer." And flew off before the Dragon Slayer could utter any protests or go after Happy.

Natsu simply blushed deeply and muttered to himself, "I do _not_." And rejoined the rest of his team, just in time to hear Lucy finish explaining the jobs and her plan.

Erza frowned. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own, Lucy?" She asked. Lucy sighed.

"Well, I was thinking about asking Juvia to come with me," She said, slightly exasperated at their lack of faith. The nearby Water Mage looked up.

"What's the job?" She asked, walking over.

"Oh, hey Juvia. I didn't realize you were here already." Lucy said, slightly startled. "We'd be working at a magic cafe. Mostly waiting food, but the request said that their enchanter's mother is sick, so he may need to leave suddenly, so we should be prepared to enchant some of the food. I've had some experience with that; it's pretty simple." Lucy explained.

Juvia cocked her head. "Where did Lucy-san get experience with magical food?" She wondered.

"Well, I didn't come straight from my father's house to here. There was a period of about a year where i was just wandering. I had to feed myself somehow. Magic cafes were the only place that I could practice magic and still earn a living, since no one else would hire a guildless mage. It's actually kinda fun; the kitchen staff always has the best gossip on the employees, but the wait staff knows everything about the town." She said with a false cheer that only Natsu detected.

"Wow, that sounds fun! Juvia would love to do that job, Lucy-san." Juvia said, smiling. Lucy beamed.

"Great! So that's settled; Erza, you go to Mira. Juvia and I will pack for the girls, and Natsu, you and Gray are on your own." Erza nodded, and they all split, Juvia going with Lucy to her apartment, gossiping.

When they met up again, Juvia was dressed in some of Lucy's clothes, picking at them nervously. "Juvia doesn't understand why Juvia must wear Lucy-san's clothes." She said shyly.

Lucy smirked. "Because Gray will be shocked. And you look cute!" Lucy herself was wearing a heart cruz crop top with a swinging pendant that Natsu had given her for her birthday before Tenroujima she'd dug out of her dusty things, with stretchy jean shorts so she could still move and a crooked belt. She'd tied up most of her hair into a messy ponytail, leaving her bangs free around her face. She'd traded in her signature hair tie for a butterfly clip.

"Ah! I see Happy." Lucy said suddenly, dropping her bag and waving to the blue Exceed, who waved and gestured to a hidden figure below and behind him. "I guess that's the boys. But where's Erza?" Lucy pondered, before Erza appeared from the direction of the guild, riding her signature cart. Lucy snickered slightly, amused at the antics of her team.

She was distracted by the arrival of the boys, who stopped short. Gray was stunned by Juvia's choice of clothes, and Natsu was stunned by Lucy's; it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was different, and it made Lucy look more womanly and less childish. Gray had certainly seen that much skin before, as Juvia had worn bathing suits, but he was unaccustomed to seeing that much skin as clothing, and Lucy's jeans hugged Juvia's curves in a way that made Gray reevaluate his opinions of Juvia momentarily.

The girls blushed shyly, and would have stood there all day had Erza not broken the moment. "Ok, is everyone ready?" She asked, all business. Lucy straightened.

"Yeah; we have our tickets to Ouran, and you guys can buy tickets all the way to Yuni and walk to the forest-" Lucy began, but was cut off.

"No; I want to stay with you, Lucy." Natsu said stubbornly. Lucy sighed.

"Natsu, even Juvia and I have to walk for a day from Ouran to Nanporo; you guys would have to walk for 2 days to get to the forest. But if you go to Yuni, you'll be at the forest in less than a day. It doesn't make sense." Lucy explained patiently.

"Well, if you and Juvia go to Yuni with us, you can go back." He said.

"That would be wasteful. Natsu, just let us go." Lucy said, getting annoyed.

Natsu grumbled. "Fine. But I don't like it."

"Why are you so protective all of a sudden?" Gray asked, making Natsu blush and clam up.

The Dragon Slayer's Exceed flapped wildly around his head. "Because he lo-" Natsu swatted the pesky cat out of the sky.

Natsu sighed, knowing that he was beaten. "Okay. We'll get off at Yuni. But you owe me one!" Lucy rolled her eyes, but smiled anyways.


	2. Chapter 2

The train ride began as they all knew it would; Natsu became sick instantly, and laid his head in Lucy's lap, who proceeded to stroke his head, running her fingers through his hair absentmindedly and humming a lullaby her mother sang to her when she was young. Soon, Natsu was asleep.

"Woah, how did you do that?" Gray asked, amazed. Lucy cocked her head.

"Hm? Do what?" She asked, having tuned out of the conversation.

"Get him to fall asleep. He never does that." Gray said.

"Huh? But he always sleeps. That's how Erza gets him to shut up." Lucy said, confused.

"No, I knock him out. That's different than making him fall asleep." Erza piped up. "I didn't go straight to this method, you know. We tried for months to get him to sleep; we tried everything. But nothing worked, so I ended up having to knock him out for the good of everyone." She finished.

Lucy blushed lightly. "All I did was rub his head." She mumbled.

"Juvia thought she heard Lucy-san humming also?" Juvia asked.

"Huh? Oh! I must have been humming my mother's lullaby. I didn't even realize I was doing it." Seeing the curious faces of her teammates, she continued. "My mom used to sing me this lullaby every night before I went to bed, because I was afraid of my room. It was too big, and too cold. I know it by heart now. I used to sing it to myself after she died." Lucy added quietly. "It made me feel like she was still here." Gray put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lucy looked up and smiled, slightly teary. Erza got up and wrapped her arms around the blonde Celestial Mage and Juvia put her hand on Lucy's knee.

"We're all here for you if you need to talk. We're nakama." Erza spoke softly and kindly. Lucy smiled, leaning into the redhead's hug.

"Thank you, guys. I grew up completely alone, so you have no idea how much this means to me." She said. Erza smiled once more and let go, returning to her seat. Juvia and Gray pulled back as well, leaving Lucy with only her Dragon Slayer in physical proximity.

She gazed at him contemplatively once attention had been diverted away from them, wondering why she was the only one able to calm him. _It's probably because we go on so many missions together, and I'm just a gentle person_ , she convinced herself.

Later, when the train had stopped and the girls were preparing to get off, Natsu woke up, startling Lucy. "Oh, Natsu. I didn't realize you'd woken up. Well, Juvia and I are getting off; see you in a few days." She said brightly.

Natsu blinked and nodded."Yeah, sure, see you in a few days." He said, his voice sounding strange.

"Is everything ok?" Lucy asked. Natsu flushed slightly and stammered out a yes. "Ok…" Lucy trailed off and began walking towards the platform with Juvia. They had just reached the step when they heard a commotion behind them. Suddenly, they saw a flash of salmon flying towards them from the window. Natsu collapsed on the platform. Happy looked concerned as he fluttered out of the window.

"Flame-brain! What're you doing?" Gray yelled from the cabin Natsu had vacated. Natsu grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Uhhhh, nothing! I just wanted to… uhhhh… to… say goodbye again! Yeah, that's it! I wanted to say goodbye to Lucy and Juvia again before they go." He said uncertainly.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked, not buying his excuse. "What's going on? You can't stay with us; you have to go on to Yuni with Erza and Gray. You'll just destroy everything in the cafe if you have to stay the whole week." She said, hands on her hips.

Natsu's face flushed, and he looked down. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just…" he trailed off, not able to find a reasonable excuse.

"...didn't care and wanted to get your way?" Lucy finished for him scathingly. He flushed again, but nodded, not wanting to risk her wrath. By this point, Erza and Gray had come down as well and they were all standing beside Erza's pack, which the porters were struggling to reattach to the back of the train.

"Natsu, you can't stay with them. We have to go and finish our job. Bandits, remember?" Gray prompted. "I'll let you take out more of them." He said, attempting to tempt Natsu back on the train.

Natsu scowled at Gray. "I don't need you to _let_ me take out anyone, Stripper!" He exclaimed. Gray looked down and swore.

"Ok, where are my pants?" He cried, searching the platform for the missing clothes. Lucy facepalmed, and heard a whistle. Her head jerked up, and everyone in Team Natsu looked up in dismay to see the train pulling out, the distressed porters abandoning Erza's cart and running after it.

"Natsu! Look what you did! Now it's going to take us forever to get there." Lucy sighed. "I guess we'd better tell Mira to tell the town you guys will be late." She said glumly.

"Actually, Mira told me that she warned the town Natsu might not want to take the train, and to expect you anywhere from a day to 4." Erza said, surprising everyone there.

"Why did Mira-san say Natsu-san might not want to take the train? Natsu-san never wants to, but he always does." Juvia asked.

"She said something about lovers not wanting to separate, whatever that means." Erza shrugged, and Lucy's face heated up, remembering Mira's attempts at getting her with Natsu. _But it's never gonna happen,_ she thought, _He doesn't like me like that, and he's my nakama._

They walked towards Erza's cart, now surrounded by a new group of distressed porters, thinking a passenger was missing their substantial luggage. Erza approached, calming them down when she told them it was hers, taking it and bringing it to the rest of Team Natsu, who mounted it as Erza drove off.

After a few hours of walking, it started to get dark as Team Natsu stumbled towards the town where Lucy and Juvia's new jobs were. They came to a rough patch of road, Erza yelling back for them to keep a tight hold on the cart or else dismount so that they wouldn't be hurt. Natsu gratefully jumped off the vehicle, landing surprisingly gracefully considering that he'd been ready to retch only a few seconds before. Gray, not to be outdone, flipped off the cart, landing on his feet until Natsu pushed him down. As they squabbled, Juvia gently climbed off of the cart. "Come on, Lucy-san. You don't want to get bounced around, do you?"

Lucy jumped down just as the cart hit its first rough spot, jolting her so that instead of the intended, smooth motion, her ankle twisted as she landed and she collapsed. Lucy cried out in pain as she landed, crumpling.

"LUCY!" Natsu cried, running to her side and cradling her in his arms. She whimpered, and his jaw clenched. Her eyes rolled back, and Natsu was forced to assume she had passed out from the pain. It must have been a really bad break for it to incapacitate _Lucy_. The rest of the team ran to their side, and Happy's lip quivered when he saw the angle of her foot.

"That's not right, is it? Lucy's leg is all wrong!" He cried, almost wailing. He landed by her shoulder and snuggled into the gap between Natsu's waist and Lucy's arm, pushing his head underneath her hand and shoving into Natsu's stomach.

"Hey, she's gonna be ok. Don't worry." Gray said, as much to Happy as it was to Natsu. "We'll camp here, and then tomorrow we'll go into town to get her to a healer. Sound good?" He said.

Natsu nodded slowly. "Yeah, ok. I'll look after her. You guys get the camp set up." Gray bristled, but he knew there was no room for negotiation. Not when it came to Lucy. Hadn't he proved that just that morning?

Gray went off to get firewood, while Erza went into town. Happy kept circling Lucy and wailing, and Natsu wouldn't budge from Lucy's side. Juvia decided to stay and help Natsu watch Lucy, for she was worried about her friend.

10 minutes after Gray and Erza had left, Natsu's head jerked up. "What is it, Natsu-san?" Juvia asked, suddenly alert.

"There's someone nearby. I can smell them." He said, almost growling.

"It could be a trader, or a traveler." Juvia suggested, despite her unease.

'Why would a traveler be this far off the path? The only reason we are is because we're all insane." The words had barely left the distracted Dragon Slayer's mouth when the bush behind him erupted, and arms grabbed Lucy out of his arms.

"Let her go!" He shouted angrily at her capturers, memorizing their features. He was going to make them _pay_.

"Not until you put these on," he slid a pair of magic binding cuffs across the leafy ground, "and come with us." He hesitated, but when the man tightened his grip on Lucy's neck and she whimpered in her sleep, he gave in.

"Alright. Just… don't hurt her." He said. Suddenly, Juvia erupted from the bush, trying to surprise the man and free her friend. But somehow, he knew she was coming, and pulled out a long sleek metal rod. He stuck it into her body and clicked something on the handle. Suddenly sparks moved up and down the rod, and Juvia writhed, screaming in pain.

"Stop it! I said I'd come with you, didn't I?" Natsu screamed. The man laughed darkly as he removed the cattle prod from Juvia's half solid quivering form.

"Point taken. Let's go, dragon boy." He said, grabbing Lucy's keys, locking her hands in magic cuffs, and dragging her limp form after him.

"Wait! You said you'd let her go." Natsu said. The man laughed again.

"I lied. Now come on, or she gets it." He said, pulling out the deadly rod once again. Natsu had no choice but to growl his revenge and follow.


End file.
